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Runway 32

Runway 32 receives approximately 35 per cent of arrivals on an annual basis. When in use, weather conditions are usually good. It is normally used in conjunction with Runway 25; together these two Runways receive approximately 74 per cent of the traffic to Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier Airport.

The following graphic shows flight paths as flown for a 24-hour period when Runways 32 and 25 were in use. The turquoise tracks are arrivals, while the yellow tracks are departures.

Note: click on any image on this page to see a larger version.

RNP procedures

The following graphic shows the current RNP route (which is not available to all carriers) in white, the proposed public RNP route in blue and a sample of 24 hours of arrival traffic in turquoise. Aircraft icons show approximate altitudes above sea level
(ASL) at their respective point in the approach. (Note: aircraft are not to
scale). When using the RNP procedure, specially-equipped aircraft will be able to turn on to the base leg towards the airport sooner and with more precision. This will reduce track miles flown. Aircraft that aren’t equipped will follow a similar traffic pattern as they do today. As always, some aircraft will be directed straight to the final approach (or “vectored”) and may not fly the specific route. Less than 25 per cent of aircraft flying in to Ottawa today are equipped to use RNP.

RNAV Standard Terminal Arrival Routes (STARs)

The following graphic shows the current standard arrival route. The purple shading area represents the areas that experience overflight today when this runway is in use. STARs provide guidance to the end of the downwind leg, at which point pilots wait for the controller’s instructions to turn on to the base leg. Aircraft will turn on to the base leg at various points depending on sequencing needs, pilot operation and aircraft performance. Despite the existence of RNAV and RNP routes, pilots can still operate in other places through the use of direct or visual approaches. In these instances, the pilot flies a more direct route to the final approach. Altogether, this means that approaches can be distributed over a wide region; the shaded areas on the maps below shows typical traffic distribution taking in to account all types of approaches.

Current standard arrival route and typical airspace use

The following graphic shows the proposed standard arrival route as well as blue shading over the areas that are expected to experience overflight when this runway is in use.

Proposed standard arrival route and expected airspace use

Proposed flight paths are in areas that experience traffic today. Some areas may see more traffic, while others may see less.